


Junesland

by prompto



Category: Persona 4
Genre: AU Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-21
Updated: 2014-01-10
Packaged: 2017-12-20 22:05:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/892432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prompto/pseuds/prompto
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU Fic: Souji is stuck working at the local theme park, Junesland. Just when he assumes the job is going to be the pinnacle of wasting his summer away, he meets a fellow co-worker who just might be his ticket into something that could make his summer anything but boring.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> * This is a AU fanfic inspired by the plot of the movie Adventureland. The basic plot twist will still apply, but the rest I'm going to mostly sort of make up on my own.

Of all the ways he could’ve spent his summer vacation, he never imagined he’d have to miss the high school graduation trip to Rome. There he was, stuck driving in his used car that was almost too old to even crank up properly, on the way to some random job at the local theme park that he had managed to luckily get.

Out of all the jobs he had gone for, this was the last one on his list that he wanted.

And it was also the only one he managed to get.

Saving up for college was not something he was exceptionally pleased about. Since his dad had lost his job and was in the process of working out a new one and his mom constantly away from home on business trips just to make ends meet now, it was no mystery as to why he was having to start saving up for college on his own merit.

So there he was, pulling into the parking lot of his new job. For the entire summer he’d be slaving away by working one of the game booths in the park. He’d been here a few times himself, on a date or just for amusement, but he’d never actually found a desire to  _work_  here.

Theme parks were associated mostly with too many crowds, too many people walking slow, and way too much humidity. This summer was probably one of the hottest ever too.

He’d managed to keep enough professionalism in clocking in for the first time, getting his booth assigned to him, and having some random kid name Kanji explaining things to him. For some reason he kept giving him odd looks from the corner of his eye, almost like he was trying to be intimidating from some unknown reason.

Barely registering him as a threat, he followed his instructions, starting to test the microphone for himself with small announcements here and there. No one seemed at all interested in his booth for the longest time. It was when he heard a long-winded announcement nearby that he saw another one of the booth runners nearby who was hard at work in speaking fluidly into the microphone.

He looked around his age. Brown eyes, brown hair, and just had a nice voice…which he thought was odd for himself to even be thinking. For some reason he got stuck on just staring, listening to him talk as a few people wondered by but didn’t stop.

It was as he set his microphone down that he saw the guy from across the area meet eyes with him. A small smile formed on the stranger’s lips as he set his own microphone down, slidding over the booth to wonder across the area.

“Hey. You the new guy?”

“Yeah I guess so.” He paused for a second before holding out his hand. Being raised on business parties out the ying yang, he was too proper for his own good. “I’m Souji Seta.”

“Yosuke Hanamura.” The now not-so-much-of-a-stranger shook his hand, that smile still etched on his lips. “So, any particular reason why you’re oh so graciously devoting your summer here?”

“Saving up for college. And you?”

“Saving up to move out along with some other things.” Yosuke rocked on his heels some before leaning against the side of the booth to look at the other properly. “You don’t seem like the type who would be very outgoing with this sort of job.”

“Quite the curious cat aren’t you?” Souji smirked somewhat while examining one of the plush dolls on the shelf.

“Just an observation.”

“I normally don’t like to make a big scene if that’s what you meant.”

“Well yeah. I mean but here you sort of have to if you want any customers. But I’m sure you could use your good looks and charms in your own way without having to do what I have to do.”

Souji raised an eyebrow, feeling an odd twinge of his own curiosity now for this guy. Was he flirting? No surely not, he didn’t look like the type to swing that way.

He decided to test the waters anyways. Not that he was interested in guys at all by any means, but he still found himself too curious to ignore the temptation forming.

“You make it sound like you have to do some provocative things on your side of the reservation.”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” He winked. “No but seriously, it’s hard trying to lure cute girls to my booth.”

There it was. The reaffirmation that this guy was straight.

He was relieved and sort of disappointed at the same time. The disappointment was a mystery.

“Not to mention Rise. Man she’s the park hottie. Every guy is always trying to go out with her.” Yosuke continued on as Souji tilted his head.

“Rise? I don’t think I’ve met her.”

“You’ll probably see her around soon. Normally she works the evening shifts.”

“What shifts do you usually work?”

“Afternoons to evenings. It can vary depending on if people need days off and stuff.”

“Yeah that’s what they signed me up for.”

“Guess we’ll be seeing a lot of each other then.” Yosuke peered around the corner before starting to run off. “Gotta jet. Dojima will flip his shit if he sees me over here.”

“Right. See ya.” Souji shook his head with a slight laugh as he saw the other trying not to trip over himself as he darted back to his booth.

Yosuke yelled back quickly. “Course you will! I’m only like 30 feet away!”

Souji felt like the day wasn’t going to drag on as much now for some reason. Maybe it was because he had someone to look forward to, and maybe to look at too.

He was going to process those weird thoughts that had started forming too, but much later after he wasn’t on the clock.

_~ tbc._


	2. Chapter 2

The first week of working at the park was like something out of a bad movie. He had endured annoying children, the heat only growing to the hottest of temperatures on record, and had to meet some of the other workers in the park who were either strange or just rude.

Across the reservation, he’d kept an eye on the one who had introduced himself as Yosuke. He’d noticed that sometimes after the evening shift some of the workers would hang out in the parking lot. It wasn’t like he knew anyone though so it wasn’t his place to join in.

Of course though, that afternoon that he was in the process of heading out to his car, he heard a shout of his name from nearby.

“Souji!”

The familiar voice made him stop as he was about to unlock his car. Turning to see Yosuke almost running over, he stopped mid-step more so out of curiosity.

“Yeah?”

“Hey man, you always run off so quickly after work.” The teen leaned on his knees to catch his breath for a second.

“I just don’t have much else to do here.”

“You should come hang out with us.”

“Hang out how..?” Souji gave him a skeptical look. As much as he had found a fondness for watching Yosuke from afar (which was strange enough on its own), he was really into the whole lets get trashed scene.

“Nothing like that. Dude just come with.”

Souji felt his hand being grabbed and him being dragged off.

The evening was interesting. He’d ended up meeting up with some of the other workers, mainly a more reserved girl named Naoto, a girl who was apparently almost just as lively as Rise but her name was Yukiko, and there was also Teddie who was always wondering around in the park mascot outfit. That was one thing he had to give his kudos to him for, especially in the dead heat of summer.

“Chie’s still sick I think.”

“What seriously? That’s nearly a whole week now.” Yukiko replied to Yosuke as she looked a bit upset at the thought.

“Yeah. I get a random text from her sometimes when she manages to move from bed. But she sounded like she was getting well enough to come back soon.” The brunet grinned as if to cheer her up.

“Well that’s good then.”

“Hey you guys, have you ever jumped off this waterfall over here?” Teddie was peering over the top of a cliff that they had all managed to find by wondering into a wooden trail near the outskirts of the park.

“I doubt that would necessarily be the safest of ideas.” Naoto seemed to be the only level-headed individual there.

Souji felt his cautious side kicking in as well, but when he saw Yosuke start to shrug off his jacket, it was his turn to reach out and grab his hand. “You’re not really going to do it are you?”

“Hey man, why not? You only live once right?”

Yukiko’s eyes lit up as she was soon starting to strip off her clothes as well, standing in nothing but her matching undergarments. Teddie was following suit while Naoto stood there shaking her head with her arms crossed.

“You’re not going to go in?” Souji asked her as she looked at him with a look that said she could list off a hundred reasons why it was the worst idea ever. “Never mind.”

“Come on Sooooouji. I know you’re not the type to do anything crazy like this, but just live a little.” Yosuke now stood in his blue boxers.

With a drawn out sigh, he felt himself giving into the peer pressure.

What were his parents always trying to tell him? To make more friends? Did possibly killing himself qualify as a deal breaker with that?

Seeing how excited Yosuke was as he flashed him a grin before getting a huge running start before jumping off the top of the cliff, Souji couldn’t help but to run to the edge to see as he fell into the water. Rising to the surface, he could hear him yelling, that grin still on his face as he did so.

Managing to tug off the rest of his clothes quickly after that, he was following after Yukiko a few moments later to run off the cliff and leap into the air. The summer breeze was like a flash of heat on his skin until he fell into the water to be blanketed by the coolness from the water below.

As he swam back to the surface, he shook his head to let his hair fall in a way to let him peer through his bangs, seeing how Yosuke was now swimming over to him.

“Good idea right?”

“Aside from the huge risk factor involved, sure.”

Yosuke rolled his eyes, splashing the other a bit which Souji quickly turned around on him.

Before they knew it, they were in the middle of World War IV involving water and strings of obscenities. Yukiko and Teddie were too busy relaxing near the actual waterfall and Naoto had taken to sitting at the edge of the cliff and was talking to someone on the phone.

“You can’t beat me. I’m the king of this waterfall!” Yosuke proclaimed before muttering  _‘oh shit’_  as he felt himself being dragged under the water.

Souji was smirking even while underwater, having grabbed the teen’s legs to have him almost directly underneath him as they floated in the water staring at each other. He felt a slap on his arm and could even see a slight pout from the other which made him start laughing to where he had to rise back to the surface.

As he took a breath, Yosuke appeared again a second later and was practically in his personal space as he slapped his arm again and was trying to wipe some of the hair out of his eyes.

“That’s cheating!”

“Hey, you kept bragging so I had to find a way to shut you up.”

“Could’ve found another way to do that I’m sure.”

For some reason, that statement had Souji thinking of something else that surely Yosuke would never hint at. No, he’d already established he was straight from day one.

Yet Souji still found himself wanting to test the waters anyway.

“Really? Well I still can do that then.”

“Yeah right, I’d like to see you try.” Yosuke challenged him just before he noticed how grey eyes were drawing in a bit closer than expected. His heart rate picked up when he realized that Souji  _had_ shifted nearly directly in front of him. He could see the water dripping from the tips of silver hair right along where his eyes were set on staring at him.

“S-Souji, what are you…”

Just when the one drawing closer was about to be mere inches away, there was a yell from above.

“It’s nearly dark. We should get going.” Naoto stated as she stood up and started brushing herself off.

“Y-Yeah, good idea.” Yosuke pushed himself away, trying to play off the weird feeling he had suddenly gotten by splashing at Souji from afar with a grin and then starting for the shore.

The group had to climb back up to get their clothes and tug them back on despite now being covered in droplets of water. Souji felt strange having to put dry clothes on over his wet boxers, but he figured he was heading directly home after this anyway so it didn’t really make much of a difference.

While they started heading back through the trail to the parking lot, he couldn’t help but to watch Yosuke as he was talking to Teddie about something. It was always interesting just to see how his face would light up, or how he’d fake being hurt about a comment. He was just nice to stare at. Souji still had to figure out what all that was about, even more so what spurned him on to actually nearly kiss him. Sure it had been more so out of feeling challenged and being curious for Yosuke’s reaction, and even if he might’ve not actually fully gone through with it, the fact that Yosuke hadn’t moved made him feel a small bit of hope for something. He wasn’t sure what.

“I wouldn’t look further into it.”

The sudden statement snapped Souji out of his slight daydream.

“Look further into what?” He looked at Naoto who had been bringing up the rear of the group with him.

“Anything with him.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m good at reading people. I can tell you’re starting to like him.”

Souji didn’t say anything.

“I’m not saying it to discourage you, but I’m saying it as a warning to avoid you being hurt.”

“I really don’t think there’s anything to worry about. I’m not really like that, and neither is he.”

Naoto simply smiled as she closed her eyes for a brief moment.

The warning thoroughly confused Souji, and even after he got home he was still pondering on it. Was it just because Yosuke wasn’t into guys? Surely that had to be it.

Even still, Souji found himself thinking back on the events that evening. He couldn’t get how he had been so close to Yosuke, and how it felt to almost feel his breath on his lips.

Tugging a pillow over his head, he had to work more increasingly strange thoughts from his mind until he finally passed out from exhaustion.

 


	3. Chapter 3

The following evening, everyone had gathered at a house party after a long night of work. Souji was surprised to see as many people there, not to mention the amount of drinks that were being passed around. Drugs seemed to be in correlation as well, but he easily passed on that. Was just never something he got into.

As he weaved through a small crowd to make his way outside, he noticed Yosuke having peered over at him through a few people standing nearby. Souji didn’t even have to wave for the other to be walking over to him moments later.

“Hey you made it.”

“Yeah I wasn’t too tired after my shift so I decided to drop by just for a few minutes.”

“Just for a few minutes? Come on now don’t leave me here alone man.”

“Alone? Seems like you already have a few people you’re hanging out with.” Souji noticed the people that had been surrounding the brunet were now looking over at them as they spoke.

“Not really. They’re pretty out of anyway if you know what I mean.”

Yosuke took a huge swig of his drink before tossing the empty cup aside and steering the other by his shoulders towards the pool. “So my brilliant idea for the night is that we should jump in the pool.”

“Are you drunk? Wait don’t answer that.” Souji had only had a few sips of his drink. He certainly wasn’t intoxicated enough to feel like jumping into a pool was a grand idea.

“I’m really not. But this party is lame, and it’d give us an excuse to leave quicker.” Yosuke wiggled his eyebrows before moving back to get a running start to which he reached out to grab the other teen’s hand in time to drag him into a sudden jump into the pool.

The coldness of the water made Souji rise to the surface in an attempt to escape the cold quicker, but it only ended up with him meeting a mischievous gaze of brown eyes as Yosuke reached the water’s surface at the same time.

“Still think this was a good idea?”

“My ideas are the best man.” Yosuke said as his teeth chattered just a little.

Souji snorted slightly while trying not to stare too much at how for whatever reason the thought that the brunet looked really good with his hair wet and slicked across his forehead somewhat. He could see the droplets of water running down his cheeks as the light from the pool served to show every bit of Yosuke’s face to him.

Somehow it was just like the day before at the waterfall, but it was now that he was really starting to see just how attractive Yosuke was. Feeling grateful for the water being as cold as it was in that moment to dispel any possible issues that might’ve started for him due to those thoughts, he saw how the other had reached out to grab his hand and drag him to the ladder that would lead them out of the pool.

“Lets get out of here.”

“What? Where are we going now?”

They exited the pool, dripping along with their layers of clothing clinging to them as they made their way around the house from the outside. Yosuke started tugging off his shirt as they brushed passed a few people lingering out in the front yard, heading to a car that was parked further down the sidewalk.

Souji started feeling the same need to rid himself of something since the wet clothes were both weighing him down and the evening air was warm but the breeze that kept passing sent a chill through him. Starting to pull off the polo he had put on after leaving work, he saw how Yosuke had popped open the trunk of his car to tug out a few pieces of clothing from a bag.

“Do you always just have spare outfits packed away for when you decide to act on your brilliant ideas?”

“Shut up Souji, just put it on.”

Souji chuckled while tugging on the random band shirt and then noticing how he was handed a pair of black jeans. Raising an eyebrow, he figured they weren’t that much different in size but Yosuke was still relatively smaller. “These are gonna be small on me.”

“They’ll just be like skinny jeans. I promise I’ll keep my hands to myself.” Yosuke winked at him over his shoulder as he had taken to removing his wet jeans to replace them with another pair of blue jeans.

Despite the size difference the jeans were slightly tight, but enough to where he still felt comfortable and he could move. His boxers were still slightly wet, but given the darkness he doubted it would be very noticeable.

“So where are we going now?”

Yosuke had made Souji tag along with him to one of his favorite bars in town. Despite them being underage, he apparently knew how the bar tender to where he could swing a few drinks for them. And sure enough, Souji had sat at the table only to have Yosuke appear seconds later with two bottles for them.

“So Souji, how many chicks have you been with?”

The question made the other almost choke on his drink, but he quickly swallowed the beer before replying. “A couple, why?”

“You have? Man, I’ve been trying to find some new game. It’s hard to these days though.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well no one really interests me anymore. I mean, I see cute girls, but none of them are enough to tempt me into actually wanting something more.”

Souji could understand that to an extent. He’d only been with those few girls due to the strange peer pressure that came with high school and having someone to be with, not to mention he had hormones to deal with 90% of the time. Even then, he hadn’t felt a true attraction, well until he had started encountering the one sitting across from him.

As he mulled on the notion that he was really starting to like Yosuke more than he should, he noticed the way their legs almost brushed together.

Souji was going to say something but Yosuke beat him to it. Surprisingly it wasn’t about how their legs had touched and were still touching though.

“And you know, fucking a girl is just so weird sometimes, like they’re so complicated to me. Maybe I’m just bad at multitasking.”

Souji could relate in a way. Having to switch between stimulating one thing and then doing another was sort of tiresome to him. Yet..the times he had let his imagination trace off to Yosuke only had him seeing that dealing with a dick might be much easier..Souji had to stop and almost chug his beer to deter the thought from continuing further.

“Have you uh..ever been with a guy?”

The question made Souji actively stop in his drinking, moving the bottle away from his lips as he noticed the way Yosuke’s gaze was completely set on him. He was seriously asking him this question.

“I haven’t. Have you?”

“No I haven’t.” Yosuke seemed to go quiet at that. Biting the inside of his cheek, he moved to drink his own beer in that moment to quench the silence.

“Why are you curious-“

Souji’s words seemed to be lost as he noticed the way Yosuke suddenly looked at something behind of him. Upon looking over his shoulder, grey eyes saw it wasn’t something but someone that had caught Yosuke’s attention. It appeared to be a woman with long, blonde hair. She was clothed in a form-fitting dress and was making her way to the bar.

“Wanna get out of here?”

“Already?”

“I wanna show you my favorite place in town.”

Yet again, Souji’s hand was suddenly grasped onto as he was dragged out of the booth and out the door.

-          *

 

The night air was just as soothing as it had been earlier, and thankfully they had completely dried to the point that they weren’t freezing as soon as they exited the car. Yosuke moved to the edge of the overlook, the embankment of the floodplain nearby and the lights overshadowing the area serving to define where he stood even more.

Souji couldn’t help but to stare as he started to approach the other to join him on the edge.

It was a nice view, relaxing in a way too. He hadn’t been to this part of town before, well he had but he’d never actually gotten out of the car and walked this far to see how nice it was. The atmosphere made him unconsciously smile, and soon he found himself looking over at Yosuke to see him doing the same.

“I love coming here to just think or just sit here for hours doing nothing.”

“I can see why.” Souji could imagine himself coming here to read a book or something. It was just that sort of place that would allow him to do so.

“Yeah..it’s a nice escape.” Yosuke spoke the words a bit lowly, yet Souji still managed to catch what he said.

An escape? He wasn’t sure what the underlying meaning of those words were. Did he mean from life in general or did he mean from his home life..either way Souji was pretty much staring at him now.

“I’m really glad I met you Souji.”

Brown eyes finally looked away from the scene around them, the turning of Yosuke’s head also showing the smile that had started to tug on his lips again.

“Yeah..I’m glad I met you too.”

Souji stared at him for what felt like ages. Seeing every defining feature that was Yosuke, from his smile, to the way his hair fell against his eyes, to those eyes that were staring right back at him then.

He couldn’t help what he did next. He couldn’t help that his hands reached out to run along the sides of his face to draw him in to let their lips touch.

He couldn’t help that he kissed Yosuke.

_~ tbc._


	4. Chapter 4

The night ended shortly after Souji had made such a bold move on someone he wasn’t even sure was interested in him in _that_ way. From how Yosuke had always acted, it seemed he was straight, yet there was confusion thrown into the mix as he had felt him returning the kiss in that moment. Maybe they had one too many drinks, but Yosuke had been sober enough to drive without issue, so Souji was at a loss.

There didn’t seem to be any awkwardness whenever he was dropped off at his house. And the next afternoon he went to work to see Yosuke waving over at him from across the area as if nothing was wrong. Just as he moved behind his booth to start making a few announcements into the handheld microphone, he noticed a woman who looked familiar walking into the area. She had long, wavy hair, and subconsciously Souji knew it was the woman from the bar. The one Yosuke had seen right before he said they should leave.

Feeling an inwardly nagging, gut feeling, he ignored it. Pushing it down as he focused on how the woman had turned and approached his booth. “So you’re the new guy?”

“Ah, I started about a week ago yeah.”

“I’m Saki Konishi. I work as a songstress here.” She smiled while not taking her eyes off of him. “I saw you know Yosuke too?”

“I only just met him, but yeah I guess you could say we’re friends.”

“Just friends?”

Something about her questioning tone made him tense up somewhat as he held the microphone still. “Uh..as far as I know.”

Saki laughed. “Calm down I’m just messing with you. He is rather cute though so I wouldn’t blame you if you ended up liking him more and more. He can also be annoying though-“

“I think he’s great.”

“Do you now?”

“Yeah.”

“Well if you ever need to talk to someone, I’m always around. A woman’s advice is always valuable, especially since I know him well.”

Souji noticed how she flipped her hair, sparing a glance back over at the brunet nearby who seemed to be preoccupied with a few customers. Despite feeling his gut feeling, he had to know the truth. He couldn’t just ask Yosuke without feeling like he might put him off.

“Is he…interested in guys?”

Saki practically giggled while shifting to sit on the counter. “I’ve never known him to be. He’s only ever been girl crazy. Why..do you like him?”

“I’m starting to yeah, no; I guess I should say I do like him yeah.” Souji tried not to stumble over his words too much as he had just verbalized liking another guy for the first time.

“That’s so cute. Well maybe he’ll be interested. Don’t get your hopes up too much though since he’s only ever known a woman’s touch.”

The way Saki said those words and then slipped away from the counter with a casual ‘see you around’ made him feel like she really did know Yosuke well. Maybe more than he’d ever know him.

-          *

The day went by relatively slow. It was nice that he had exchanged numbers with Yosuke a few days ago though so they could send each other stupid texts about stupid customers. It was also a nice way to flirt with him from afar and see his reactions. Somehow Souji felt like Yosuke might really be attracted to him too though, especially since half the time he could see the blush on his cheeks even from so many feet away.

It wasn’t until they were finally off their shift and heading out get some food that Yosuke started saying some things that dissuaded any hopes he might’ve had.

“So…I need to talk to you about something.”

“What is it?”

Yosuke grabbed at the other’s arm to pull him aside before they actually went inside the pizza parlor. “Saki spoke to me earlier; she told me that you uh…you like me.”

Souji felt heat rise to his cheeks which he tried to fend off quickly to avoid further embarrassment than having Yosuke be told from a second party about his attraction to him. “She did?”

“Yeah I mean, I don’t care, it’s flattering. I’m just uh…you know not into guys like that.”

“Oh right.” Souji felt awkwardness between them there as he looked away for a moment. “Well if that’s how you really feel then I’ll try to get over those feelings.”

“Yeah? I just don’t want to disappoint you I guess. But thanks man.”

He watched as Yosuke smiled and then moved away to lead them into the pizza parlor. As Souji slid into the booth, he tried to focus on what Yosuke was saying about some weird customers he had that day, but all he could do was think about how it felt when he had kissed him last night. His eyes trailed to his lips as they moved, to which he quickly looked away to the menu to distract himself.

Yosuke _had_ kissed back. But there he was saying he wasn’t into guys like that. Maybe it really had just been a fluke. Either way, Souji still felt a bit heartbroken, but he decided if he still wanted to remain friends with Yosuke then he’d have to move past the feelings somehow.

That was always easier said than done though.

The rest of the evening he had to avoid feeling depressed all of the sudden from what he had been told by Yosuke. He was happy whenever the brunet decided to cut out early due to having to go home because he had to do something with his parents.

That night sleep didn’t come easy to him, and he felt the dread of having to go to work the next morning to deal with seeing Yosuke all day without being able to send those cute texts anymore or stare without seeming weird. Just as he was heading to his booth, he didn’t see Yosuke there yet. Going through his small bit of preparation before the park was set to open completely, he noticed the brunette known as Rise standing in front of his booth.

“Hello Souji.”

“Oh hey Rise.”

“Most people call me Risette around here, but I like how you say Rise so.”

“That’s good then..so what can I do for you?”

She giggled while moving a hand to grab at the collar of his shirt and tug him across the counter some to stare at her closely. “You can go out with me tonight after work.”

Souji heard the request; well it seemed more like a command with how she had invaded his personal space. She was attractive enough for him not to mind it as much though. “I don’t have anything planned so I guess I could do that.”

“Good.” She smiled while releasing her hold on him, moving away with a wink. “I’ll give you my number before our shifts over.”

Feeling like this might really be just what he needed, he hardly thought twice on it, even after he saw Yosuke finally show up to his booth only a minute or so before the park opened. He’d hardly paid any attention to the few texts he received from the brunet that day, deciding he just needed to put some space between them in order to diminish whatever feelings had started to grow for him.

He’d managed to get Rise’s number just before leaving the park. With only about an hour’s leeway, he went home to change into a white polo shirt and a pair of blue slacks, heading out after that to pick up his date for the evening.

Going out with Rise had been like going out with the most popular girl in school. He felt like he had to spend a lot to take her to a nice place for dinner, he had to use every manner in the book with her, and he also had to show public displays of affection since she seemed keen on that.

If anything, it was a bit tiresome. With Yosuke things had been pretty laid back, nothing was forced, and he genuinely enjoyed his company. Not that Rise’s was bad; it just wasn’t something he thought he could handle in large doses.

The end of the night came a few hours after that, and soon he found himself sitting in his car with her outside of her house.

“I had a great time tonight. We should do it again sometime.” She smiled while turning to him to which he could see the bit of lipgloss she had just applied a little while ago.

“Yeah it was great.” Souji watched as she leaned over towards him. He didn’t want to refuse her, especially since he needed a distraction to get past the one he couldn’t have. Running his hand along the side of her face, he met her lips in a kiss that lasted for a few moments, feeling the lipgloss on his lips and tasting a strawberry flavor soon after that.

She pulled back with a smile before opening the door and getting out. “See you later Souji.”

“See you at work.”

Souji felt a little lighter after dropping Rise off, not entirely because he didn’t have to be on his best behavior but because he at least had someone he could go out with to help him get over Yosuke.

Looking at his phone that had been tucked away in his car for the duration of the evening, he finally pulled it out to see if he had any missed texts or calls.

Just as he pulled into the driveway, he had to sit in the car and go through the missed texts that were all from Yosuke. Most of them were asking what he was doing, where he was, or why he wasn’t replying. Then there was one missed call.

Holding his phone to his ear, he went to his voicemail to listen to the message.

_“Hey Souji so uh…you haven’t said much to me today, and you haven’t been answering anything I’m sending. I guess you’re ignoring me, but I guess you have a right to if you need space or whatever to not like me anymore.” Yosuke sighed loudly. “Fuck it I can’t, look, I’m going crazy here okay, I don’t know what’s going on but I don’t like that you’re not really talking to me at all, and it’s like all I can do is think about you and wonder what you’re doing and if you..if you miss me at all. Man this is so lame, I really miss you though, and I guess what I’m trying to say is, maybe what I said last night isn’t entirely true. So just..give me a chance to see how things go between us.”_

The message ended after that and all Souji could do was drop his phone in the passenger seat before backing out of the driveway as fast as he could and go speeding down the street.

He had to see Yosuke now. This wasn’t something that could wait until later on. 


	5. Chapter 5

By the time he had pulled up to Yosuke’s house, he had hardly even had the proper time to process what he was going to say much less do. The house looked empty though, only one car parked outside in the driveway. As he hastily cut off the engine and stepped out onto the pavement, only making it a few steps forward before he heard the front door opening and saw a familiar face.

He moved forward without any sort of hesitation, approaching Yosuke and instantly running a hand around the back of his neck to draw him in for a deep kiss. The response was instant then, hands gripping at his sides to drag him in closer, feeling how their bodies fit together in such a nice way. So nice that it was already seeming to cause a problem with how tight his pants suddenly felt.

The way Yosuke held onto him though and how their tongues even began to run along one anothers was enough proof to know that he wanted Souji just as badly. There was no explaining why, but just having Yosuke close to him always gave him a craving to touch and hold him, to know more about him, and to just be with him.

“You sure know how to get a guy’s attention.” Yosuke muttered in between how their lips kept finding each other, his breathing clearly uneven as he felt the hand on the back of his neck shift down onto his back.

“Hey…you’re the one who called me.”

“Yeah I did. Man this is embarrassing now.” The brunet’s cheeks became redder than they already had been from their small moment of intimacy. “I didn’t sound too desperate did I?”

“I wouldn’t call it desperate. More like endearing.” Souji chuckled softly while moving his other hand up to brush a strand of brown hair to stare into those matching brown eyes properly. “But I’m here now. So that means this is real.”

Truthfully Yosuke was nervous, not so much at the concept of actually being with a guy (although he never had a want to do so before this point), but because Souji really was just someone that he found pretty amazing so far. He didn’t think he could go a day without talking to him, or well, kissing him now either. He was really damn good at it.

“Yeah it is. Guess we have to like go on a real date now huh?”

“It seems that way. Think you can handle my flirting in person?”

Yosuke became even more flustered as he hit the boy’s side before dragging him into the house and kicking the front door shut with his heel.

-          *

The next week was interesting, dealing with complaining customers didn’t seem all that bad until one day one of them was suddenly trying to jump the counter over where one of his other co-workers, Teddie (it was a nickname apparently), was stationed.

Souji didn’t even have to blink before he was jumping over his own counter, almost pushing past people in order to reach where the blonde teen was in the process of running away himself.

“What-what’s going on?”

“He found out the game’s rigged-this isn’t good-“

The enraged man turned and had snatched one of the large teddie bears hanging up, jumping back down from the counter before stomping over at them with a threatening demeanor. There was no hesitation as Souji moved forward to kick the guy in the balls.

As soon as he did so, the guy fell to the ground only for a moment, the stolen prize laying there as he steadily got back up.

“You little shit-“

Souji could hear yelling nearby, more than likely from Yosuke, before he realized just how much bigger the guy was than himself. Turning to run off with Teddie already being a few steps ahead, it was just as he reached the main office that he saw Kanji come flying past him in a blur of blonde hair, rage, and a swinging bat.

Soon as they reached the main office, the door swung open seconds later, Yosuke came running in a bit of a mess as he instantly moved over to Souji and ran his hands onto his shoulders, looking him over. “Are you okay? Tell me you’re okay.”

“Hey, I’m fine, calm down.”

“I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.” Yosuke breathed out the words without even really processing them. They had to be true though since the entire week all they had done is spent almost every minute together. As he saw Souji smile at him, he felt that rush of emotion he’d started to get every time he would just look at him. And once he felt Souji lean in to kiss him again rather slowly at first, he couldn’t help but to return the kiss as he always did.

The office was deserted aside from them, to which Yosuke was grateful for since he wasn’t sure he wanted word getting out about him being with a guy just yet. Not that he really had any reason to care since his father was never home and always out dealing with his step-mother, so it wasn’t like he was concerned about his family disliking the idea. He was just needing to adjust more before proclaiming Souji was…well pretty much his boyfriend by this point.  
As their kissing began to get progressively more intense, the brunet felt himself pushed back against the desk nearby, a tongue slipping into his mouth as he could recall just how they ended up in such a similar position nearly a week beforehand.

Souji pressed closer, having Yosuke nearly sitting on the desk now as he ran his hands down along his body, letting them reach his hips to drag him closer to create a heated friction between them. It was as he felt the other’s hands reaching to unbuckle his pants that yelling was heard directly outside.

With the string of curses that came along with it, he recognized it as being Kanji.

Hardly having time to try and shuffle back over near the door as if they were in the process of leaving the office, he saw how the blonde had a satisfied smirk on his face.

“That fucker won’t be back here any time soon.”

“Thank you Kanji, you were magnificent!” Teddie was trailing after him back into the office as the other two made their exit back outside.

“I think it’s time to take our break.” Yosuke muttered as he was still in the midst of fighting off a hard-on.

“Me too. What’s for lunch?” Souji practically grinned while asking, suddenly feeling a hand on his arm stop him.

“I need to talk to you.”

Turning to see how Naoto was stopping him from continuing in his sudden lunch date with Yosuke, he gave the young woman a quick nod. “I’ll be right back. Go ahead and get me what we normally get at the stand around the corner.”

Yosuke shrugged and gave a slight wave to Naoto before heading off to get their lunch as Souji had requested.

“What’s going on?”

Naoto pulled him further aside, near a more secluded area of an empty gaming booth.

“Look, I know you went out with Rise the other night.”

Souji said nothing for a minute as he took the thought in.

“I also know things have changed between you and Yosuke despite my warning to you about doing that.”

“How do you-“

“I can just tell.”

Souji went completely silent as he saw Naoto giving him a serious look. “You can’t keep that from him if you really want that to have even the smallest chance of things working out.”

“Why do you keep making it sound like there wasn’t a chance to begin with?”

“Because you don’t know everything about Yosuke just as much as I could tell that you two like each other now.”

“Fine. I’ll tell him. I was going to anyways. I don’t like hiding things from people.” Souji noticed how she seemed satisfied with that reply. Turning to leave afterward, he still felt as if what she said really had some sort of deeper meaning to it. Did Yosuke really have something that he was hiding that could be as bad as Naoto made it seem?

By the time he reached the stand, Yosuke was already seated at a nearby table with their food on the table. He was about to lift a fry to his mouth and make some witty remark by the way he was looking at Souji.

Souji instantly stopped him though.

“I have to tell you something.”

Looking confused at the way the other suddenly approached him, Yosuke practically dropped the fry. “Okay..what’s up?”

“Something happened last week.”

Feeling a little nervous now, Yosuke felt his heart racing as he tried to keep himself from panicking. He was going to tell him he found someone else, that he really didn’t like guys, that Yosuke wasn’t what he wanted, that he knew about-

“Like what?”

“I went out with Rise.”

Yosuke felt himself instantly deflate as he sighed softly. “You did?”

“Yeah.” Souji examined him as he slowly started to sit down. “You don’t seem very surprised.”

“Well of course not I mean, I don’t blame her.” The brunet’s cheeks became a darker shade of pink as he resumed picking up the fry that he had held before. “I figured it was only a matter of time before she asked you out.”

Feeling immensely relieved, Souji shifted his leg over to let it brush against the other’s gently. “I’m glad. I was worried you might’ve been upset.”

“How could I be upset? It was before anything happened with us right?”

“Before you realized that you actually liked me, yeah.”

“So it’s whatever.” Yosuke shrugged, humming thoughtfully as he chewed on the fry and let his leg brush back. “If you went out with her again now though, then I’d be mad.”

Souji shook his head and gave him a look as if to say ‘you know I won’t’. For a few minutes after that, the two made random comments about some of the weirder people they had seen wondering around the park today. Also on what they were going to do for their next date. Souji was insistent on having Yosuke over so he could cook them dinner.

As he was listing off a few dishes that he was particular fond of cooking, Yosuke was thinking back on how the silver-haired teen had looked when he said he had to tell him something. It made his heart skip a beat at how devoted Souji already seemed to be towards him.

“You really never cease to surprise me.”

“What do you mean?”

“It just seemed really important to you to tell me about that date with Rise.”

“Of course it did. I mean, if this is really going to go somewhere like I’m hoping it will, we have to be able to be open and honest with each other.” Souji moved a hand to gently run over the brunet’s as it was laid out on the table.

“Yeah I guess you’re right.” Yosuke smiled in return while moving his hand away to finish off the last bit of fries on his plate. Suddenly he felt his appetite diminishing though.

The only thing he felt was an intense guilt that wouldn’t go away.

Not until he did something. That something he would have to do tonight.


	6. Chapter 6

He hadn’t expected the day to go on so long.

Souji felt like the minutes were practically dragging by the time six o’clock rolled around. Finishing with his last customer, he rolled his neck while finally being able to clock out and started the short walk to the parking lot where his car was.

The evening was going to be great. He’d convinced Yosuke to come over for dinner, something he would make just for them pretty much from scratch. The house would be completely empty too since his parents were out of town for the weekend, which would surely make it a great opportunity to finally take things further than just the heavy make-outs they’ve had so far.

As he checked his phone to see if Yosuke had replied with what time he would come over, a hand on his arm stopped him short of reaching his car.

“Hey.”

“Kanji? What’s up?”

“I need you to listen to this.”

Souji seemed confused as he saw a member of the park security better known as Adachi show up seconds later.

“What’s going on…”

“Look, I know something is going on between you and Yosuke, I can just..tell.” Kanji had a slight blush on his cheeks as he quickly gestured to Adachi. “He saw something that I thought you should know about.”

“Yeah so, the other day I was doing my rounds in the parking lot, and I saw the lovely Mrs. Konishi and Yosuke in the back seat..”

Anything Adachi spoke after that Souji didn’t hear. Just the implication was enough.

“Right-All right.” With a shake of his head, Souji looked down at the ground for a few moments as he felt a mixture of shock and anger starting to fuel him.

“…This was before anything happened though with you two right I mean-“

“I guess.” Souji shoved his phone in his pocket, not even wanting to check on a reply at this point. Pulling out his car keys, he unlocked the car and slid inside just as he saw Kanji running around to the other side of the car.

“Yo man wait a minute, what are you going to do-“

“Do you know where her house is?”

“Well yeah, I sort of live near her.”

“I’m going.”

Kanji barely had time to slide into the passenger seat and click his seatbelt before Souji was backing out of the parking space and speeding out of the park.

-          *

“I can’t do this anymore.”

“What do you mean..I thought you loved me?” Saki had Yosuke leaned against the doorway, her hands already starting to drift down along his sides. “Don’t tell me, you’ve actually started falling for that stupid Seta kid.”

“His name is Souji.” Yosuke practically spat out as he was about to pull away from her until he felt her hands drifting down to grope at his crotch. He inhaled sharply at that.

“Come on now, you know he could never touch you like I do.” Leaning her head in closer, she let her lips begin a treacherous movement down his earlobe then to his neck. “…You know you love how my mouth feels around your coc-“

“No.” Pulling away this time, Yosuke turned to really look at her in that moment. Before, he saw the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. Before he didn’t think he could live without her. But now, with having Souji come into his life and make him re-evaluate everything, including himself, he knew he could live without her. He wanted Souji.

“You’re in a broken marriage Saki, and I won’t be the one to try and help you cope with that anymore.”

“I thought you loved me-“

“I thought I did at one point. Like an idiot I _thought_ I did.” He laughed almost cynically for a moment before checking his phone to see the background as a picture of himself and Souji. “But I don’t anymore. Because whatever this was, it wasn’t a real emotion. It wasn’t real at all.” With one last shake of his head, he felt a few tears stinging his eyes, mostly out of feeling so stupid to have even gotten involved in something like that to begin with.

Saki tried to move after him again, but he was already leaving the basement and heading back upstairs to head back to his car.

Swinging the front door open and quickly closing it behind him, he fiddled for his keys just as he wiped at his eyes. He only made it a few steps to start crossing the street when he felt an immense dread fill him at what he saw.

“Is this why you don’t reply for hours sometimes?”

“Souji-I-I can explain-“

“Explain what? That I was just some experiment for you? That you’ve been fucking Saki for god knows how long now, that you probably just did right now-“

“No! **_NO!_** It’s not like that at all, you’re completely wrong. Okay I fucked up, I’m sorry I did, but this was all before I met you and knew you-“

“-And realized I was just some guy. I wasn’t a girl like you want. Hope it was fucking great for you because I’m done.”

“Souji-SOUJI!”

The silverette had already whirled around to get back into his car, slamming the door shut before speeding away so fast the tires screeched.

The few tears that Yosuke had shed before became non-stop after that. With his hands running over his face, he fell to his knees on the side of the road, not even caring about anything but how much it hurt to know who he had just lost.

-          *

“Man…that was harsh.”

Kanji was worried about both of his friends. Mostly about Souji since he kept downing drinks in that moment.

“Yeah well, if you saw someone you liked in that sort of situation, what would you do?”

The blond thought it over as he swirled the liquor in his own shot glass a bit before downing it. “No idea. Probably be liable to have a bat involved though if I was mad enough.”

“See.” Souji leaned back against the couch as he could feel that the alcohol had already served to numb most of his physical senses, yet the emotions were still there somewhat.

“I still think you should at least talk to him. Not now, but when you’ve calmed down.”

Souji was terrible at doing that though. Sure he’d be calm in a few days time, but he doubted he could get that image out of his mind. The idea of Saki and Yosuke in the back seat of that car…it made him feel a moment of disgust as he took another shot.

“I’m better off just going out with Rise again. Least she’ll give it up to me and only me.”

Kanji remained silent as he realized they were nearly done with the bottle of vodka they had found stashed away in his grandmother’s cabinet.

“…I’m just gonna get another bottle.”

Meanwhile across town, it seemed that they weren’t the only two drinking in that moment.

Yosuke had forced himself to return home about an hour later. All too distraught and really not even caring at that point as he walked into the house to find it filled with a small group of guests. He immediately walked over to the liquor cabinet in the living room, openly pouring himself a glass of scotch in front of a few guests.

“Um, Yosuke, you do realize that we have guests here. You shouldn’t be drinking, I don’t think-“

“I don’t give a shit what you think.” He muttered quite loudly as he took the glass and nearly downed it in one go, starting to pour himself another glass as his father appeared.

“You shouldn’t speak to her like that.”

“Yeah, well you shouldn’t have married her since she’s just a gold-digging whore.”

The shrill voice his step-mother was heard again. “I’ll have you know I’ve done everything that I can to ensure this is a stable household.”

“Oh whatever, go fuck yourself.” Yosuke brushed past her, purposefully throwing some of his drink on her dress before he headed towards the kitchen. He hardly made it far as his father tugged him aside into the study.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing? You can’t talk to her like that, much less in front of guests.”

“I don’t care. It’s your fault for marrying her, she’s fucking awful.”

“What’s gotten into you?”

“I don’t want to be here anymore. Neither of you want me here either. I’m moving out, and you’re going to help me. It’s the least you can do after making me put up with her since mom died.”

His father gave him a long, hard look.

Yosuke knew he had won. At least, that was about the only thing he had left to win at this point.

 

 


End file.
